PHOTO/FRANK JOHNSON
By Rev. Bruce Ray, Pastor, Kimball Avenue Church, Chicago, IL
CHICAGO, IL — The first thing you see at the Julia C. Lathrop Homes, the only public housing development on Chicago’s north side, are the fences that surround boarded up buildings. Of the 925 units that are a part of Lathrop Homes, less than 140 are currently occupied. The rest are vacant—and have been for years.
Sixteen years ago, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) announced that Lathrop Homes would be renovated and began moving residents out of their homes in preparation, promising that when renovations were completed, they would have the right to return. Quickly, it became evident that the CHA had other plans for Lathrop Homes.
Instead of renovation, the CHA announced a “redevelopment” of Lathrop Homes into a mixed-income community under the city’s “Plan for Transformation.” The agency selected a team of for-profit and non-profit housing developers to redesign the 35-acre parcel of land that sits along the Chicago River with the stipulation that only 400 units be set aside for low-income residents. The remaining units would be a mix of “affordable” and market-rate apartments.
When asked about the 525 units of low-income housing that would be eliminated, the CHA responded with a vague commitment to replace the units on the north side as sites became available. Despite strong public opposition to the plan, the CHA and Chicago’s Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, have pushed forward. The plan was approved by the City Council on Wednesday, March 16.
Four days later, on Palm Sunday, March 20, over 250 people of faith and justice descended on Lathrop Homes, carrying palm branches and protest signs and crying out for housing justice for the poor. Pastors of the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance blasted the City Council action, calling it city-sponsored, tax-payer funded gentrification. The crowd demanded that Mayor Rahm Emanuel “Show Us The Plan” to replace the eliminated units. To demonstrate the desperation of families who need housing, 10 public housing advocates, pastors and family who had languished on the CHA waiting list for 20 years occupied a vacant unit. The occupation lasted five hours until the CHA called the police to arrest the occupiers for trespassing. In a written statement, the CHA condemned the action, calling the occupation misguided and misinformed.
The 750 plus boarded up units bore witness to the truth. The Chicago Housing Authority and Mayor Emanuel have failed the community—breaking promises and re-segregating the north side of Chicago by taking land that was set aside to provide public housing away from the poor and giving it to the wealthy.
Cities across the country have used similar transformation plans to eliminate public housing and displace the poor. The battle to ensure that everyone has a home will continue in Chicago. The battle must continue because more and more families are being pushed out of their homes and into the streets.
